Sigh of relief follows panic for PU students

News of Biology paper leak in Tumkur mere rumour, say PU dept officials

Students appearing for their second PU examinations faced anxious moments on Thursday, as news of the Biology paper leak broke out.

The news originating from Tumkur was enough to worry students, who were only too aware of the paper leak last year, but officials of the Department of PU Education were quick to stamp out the news as rumours and assured the students that it was a bogus claim.

“I urge parents and students not to panic as the news of the paper leak is not true. Investigations are going on and there is no question of a re-examination as of now. Parents should not fall prey to rumour mongering.

There will be no re-examination because there has been no leak,” said Principal Secretary, Primary and Secondary Education G Kumar Naik.

Two arrested

While 1,25,081 students were appearing for their second day of exams in Biology across the State, the police nabbed one Devendrappa, 43, from a hotel in Tumkur in connection with the paper leak and seized what is claimed to be original the question paper, its photocopies, Rs 1.1 lakh in cash and a Maruti car. 

The previous night one of Devendrappa’s accomplice, Mallesh, 22, of Gubbi was caught red-handed while selling the question papers by the District Crime Investigation Bureau.

Handwritten copies of the question papers and Rs 15,000 in cash were recovered from him. The police had caught him after having observed him for a period of one week.  
Ironically, the duo had been arrested even last year in the same connection. 

“A special investigation team has been constituted to further investigate the crime and catch others who are involved. We however cannot confirm the nature and kind of irregularities as of now,” said Superintendent of Police Raman
Gupta.

The alleged kingpin of the leak, one Sivakumar from Kaggere in Gubbi taluk, an assistant teacher at the government high school who had been suspended in a case of question paper leak is still at large along with three others.

Sivakumar had allegedly got his hands on all three sets of the question papers that were prepared by the PU Board for the subject.

On getting wind of one of the three question papers being sent to Ahmedabad for printing, Sivakumar immediately made copies of the selected question paper and got them distributed in various districts through his agents, according to the police. It is alleged that he has been involved in the trade for the past 20 years.

“As of now I can say that there has been no leak and the investigations are going on to find the truth,” said Commissioner, PU Education, Chakravarthy Mohan. Meanwhile, examinations went on peacefully and seven cases of malpractice were detected in Belgaum, Bijapur, Dharwad, Gulbarga and Mandya.